Pentagon Official: US Needs New Weapons to Ready for War With China

Sbragia: US needs robots, lasers

The position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for China is charged with preparing the US for its international rivalry with China, and the potential of a military conflict with China.

The current Deputy Assistant, Chad Sbragia, testified to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and made it seem that China is just going to be a growing threat, and a war increasingly likely.

Sbragia suggested that the US needs to develop more, better, and deadlier weapons for a conflict with China, warning China will continue to challenge US national interests otherwise.

To fulfill his desire for a more lethal military, Sbragia says the US needs more hypersonic weapons, robots, and lasers. He added the US needs new alliances and partners aimed at China going forward.

The list of weapons is representative of things the Pentagon is already spending money on. This makes for safe comments for the deputy assistant, as he is both advocating the continuation of the status quo, and trying to present the China conflict as intrinsically linked to what the Pentagon is already doing.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.